Advertisers have been creating for the TV screen for decades, but it’s the connected TV (CTV) screen that presents new opportunities for engagement. By pairing the precision of digital with the scale of linear TV, CTV gives brands the best of both worlds. And CTV is now mainstream. According to eMarketer, during 2021 nearly 83% of U.S. households will have at least one connected TV used by at least one person every month. And in December of last year, over 120 million people in the U.S. streamed YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV screens.
Matt McDonald, head of emerging formats at YouTube, writes that marketers across verticals are already reaping the benefits of CTV’s immersive screen.
Earlier in the year, Special K ran a video campaign highlighting healthy habits. The team used YouTube’s Reach Planner tool to determine the right media mix, which included YouTube CTV Ads. The approach paid off: More than a third of the audience reached by YouTube CTV Ads was incremental to television. On top of that, results showed that 31% of the time the YouTube ad ran on CTV, multiple viewers ages 18 and over were watching it together.
For beauty brand Coty, CTV made up 63% of the total campaign reach for its men’s fragrance, Gucci Guilty Pour Homme, with nominal audience overlap between YouTube and linear TV.
Marketers new to CTV might think that gauging its effectiveness will be a challenge. Tools like Brand Lift can measure the effectiveness of YouTube CTV Ads across brand metrics, such as awareness, recall, and consideration. And new solutions are on the way. Starting this year, U.S.-based advertisers can measure their YouTube CTV campaigns through third-party provider Nielsen.
